ECOLE PAUL-DESMARAIS OPENS MONDAY: It’s been a busy week of preparation at Stittsville’s new French Catholic high school. Students toured the school this week (photo above) to find their new lockers and get ready for the first full school day on Monday. (The official opening will be on Thursday, February 4.) Continue reading →

FOTENN, the consultants who represent Richcraft on the file, made the request for deferral. They agreed to extend the 90-day period in which the city has to respond to the demolition request.

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At the same meeting, the committee passed a motion to designate Boyd House at 173 Huntmar as a heritage building. In 2013, the heritage committee held off on full designation when the owner agreed to work with city staff to incorporate it into the new development.

Barry Padolski, a committee member and prominent local architect, said that the planned subdivision will benefit from the “iconic” presence of the old stone house, and said that this was a positive outcome for planning and development, and that it would “benefit the discussion on the Bradley-Craig barn at the next meeting.”

The developer will also preserve some of the trees along the north side of the property, and a long laneway will mimic the traditional driveway that runs from Huntmar Road into the farm.

Miguel Tremblay, a planning consultant withFOTENN, was at the meeting to represent both Richcraft on the Bradley-Craig file, and Amazon Properties who own Boyd House.

Tremblay said his client was very much in favour of heritage designation for Boyd House, but the fact that it wasn’t originally designated in 2013 gave the developer more flexibility in designing their plans.

“We asked for flexbility [for Boyd House],” said Tremblay. “It’s the same thing we’re asking at 590 Hazeldean to work through some issues.”

The Boyd House designation still has to be approved by the city’s Planning Committee and City Council.

The plan of subdivison for 173 Huntmar incorporates Boyd House across from a large park. A row of trees on the north side of the property will be preserved and a long laneway from Huntmar to the heritage house will mimic the traditional farm driveway.SHARE THIS

City planners are recommending that Boyd House, the old stone home at 173 Huntmar Drive, be designated as a heritage building. The city’s Built Heritage Sub-Committee will vote on a motion to designated it on Monday, November 9.

The property is slated for development and heritage designation is included as one of the conditions in the plan of subdivision.

In 2013, the owner of the property, Bob Karam, applied to demolish the home. The application went in front of the city’s heritage committee, at which point the owner agreed to stave off demolition and maintain and secure the property.

The stone house will now be incorporated into the new subdivison and used as an office, restaurant, or similar commercial use.

The house was built in 1887 by James and Jane Boyd, just a few years after the Great Fire destroyed most of the landscape in this area. They raised seven children and the house remained in the family until the 1970s.

The city’s heritage staff say that architecturally, it’s a good example of a late 19th century Gothic Revival farmhouse.

“Typical of the style, the house is constructed of stone with a steeply pitched gable roof, decorative bargeboard and stone quoins. These houses were frequently built to replace earlier log houses that were built upon settlement,” says the report.

“The house has associative or historical value because it expresses the theme of early settlement of Huntley Township by Irish Protestants in the mid 19th century. These new immigrants cleared the land and farmed, and this house is representative of the early successes of prosperous farmers such as the Boyd family. As development occurs in the area, the historic context of the Boyd House is being lost. The house has contextual value as a visual reminder of the agricultural history of Huntley Township.”

Councillor Shad Qadri is quoted in the report as well:“As Councillor for the area I feel it is very important that we retain the heritage of our community and the designation of the Boyd house provides an excellent opportunity to do so. With Stittsville as a growing community I feel it is important that we maintain our historical connection going forward to reflect the importance of the descendants of our community.”

A couple years ago I did quite a bit of research into the home and the Boyd family. There’s a remarkable number of photos and stories that have been passed down through generations of the family. You can read about it here…

James and Jane Boyd. Photo taken in the early 1900’s. This photo was emailed to me by Jeff Linttell, a Boyd descendent who now lives in Vancleek Hill. Linttell’s grandmother was Margaret Ann Boyd, the eldest child of James and Jane. This photo was taken at 214 Percy Street, a home belonging to the Linttell family.

Lyman Boyd with his neice Karen Boyd and friend David MacBeth, in the early 1950s. Lyman was the last of the family to live on the farm, and sold it in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of Melodie McCullough.SHARE THIS

From the Goulbourn Township Historical Society collection, circa 1940: “Byron Boyd with a load of milk at Eagleson’s Corners, to meet a truck from Producers Dairy after a big snowstorm. In the summer the truck came to the house.”